Emergency Break
by Missie DuCaine
Summary: At fifteen, Caleb and Pogue tried to go on a road trip. It didn't work so well.


"Shit, I think it's overheating."

Pogue looked up sharply, frowning. Caleb's brow was furrowed as he stared in concern out the front windshield, at smoke billowing ominously out of the edges of the hood. He blinked. "The engine's smoking."

"I noticed." Caleb grumbled, waving his arm out the driver's side window, trying to clear enough to see properly. "What do you do when the engine overheats?"

"I dunno, _you're_ the one who said he knew how to drive!"

"I _can_ drive!" Caleb protested, jaw grit. "I can drive just fine."

"You don't have your liscense," Pogue pointed out.

"So? You don't have to be sixteen to know _how_ to drive," Caleb shot back, wincing as the car gave a horrible lurch, twice, and the smoke coming out of the hood darkened to a sick black.

"Maybe you should pull over," Pogue suggested.

"But if I pull over, I may not be able to make it start again," Caleb complained, biting his lip.

"Are you sure you really _want_ to start it again after this?" Pogue asked, brow furrowed.

"We're not even halfway to Boston! If we quit now, we'll never make it to California!"

"We'll never make it _home_ again if we're dead!"

"We're not going to die because the engine overheated!"

"We will if it blows up!"

"It's not gonna blow up!"

"It might!"

"Will not!"

"Well, that black smoke doesn't exactly look good, _does_ it?!"

"No, but that _still_ doesn't mean that it's going to _blow up_!"

"Well, if you pull over, we can _fix_ it!"

"I don't know how to fix a car!"

"_Fix_ _it_, idiot!" Pogue yelled, pointing at his eyes. "Are you a fucking witch or not?!"

Caleb flushed, two pink spots of heat on his cheeks. "Well, if you're such a genius, you could fix it from _here_!"

"I'm just as new at this as you are!"

"You've been a witch for two years, same as me! If I can't figure it out, good _luck_ you figuring it out!"

"Caleb!"

"_WHAT_?!"

"TREE!"

The road, with no regard for fifteen year old teenagers who had stolen one of their mother's car and, upon discovering that the engine was overheating and gotten into a heated argument, had decided to turn. Sharply. And they were not _on_ the turn, but rather, flying off of it at an alarming pace, aimed directly at an ancient, towering oak tree.

Caleb screamed, quite loudly, and Pogue threw his arms in front of his face, and the car let out an unpleasant crunch as it's front end collided with the tree, and proceeded to wrap itself around it.

Caleb's chin smashed into the steering wheel just in time for the air bag to explode in his face, throwing him back and smashing him into the head rest with a fairly explosive force. Pogue's seatbelt caught on the 'safety latch', and he let out a pained grunt as he made contact with the seat belt, which gave him no give, and then bounced forward again, his face landing fairly comfortably into the air bag, which had already begun to deflate.

Whimpering slightly, Caleb lifted his head, blinking rapidly. "Wha' happened to my sunglasses."

Pogue blinked at him, reaching up to rub at a little bloody spot on his forehead, right inside his hairline. "Dunno... wha' happened to your chin?"

Rubbing at the impressive burn on the underside of his chin, Caleb pointed at the airbag. "Blew up in my face."

"Oh." Pogue undid his seatbelt, hissing in pain. "Ow. And this thing is supposed to _save_ my life? It hurts."

"Here." Caleb unbuckled his own seat belt, rotating his shoulders. "Lemme see."

Obediently, Pogue tugged his shirt over his head, hissing at the already angry red stripe across his chest. "_That_ is gonna bruise. Bad."

"Not if I can help it," Caleb muttered, flames flaring in his eyes to herald in black blankness. He touched his hand to Pogue's chest, and poured power into the other, bruises fading and disappearing before their eyes.

"Well, fair's fair," Pogue pointed out, eyes flaring black as sin as he reached over to touch Caleb's chin softly, burn disappearing into his skin.

"Great." Caleb smiled at him, tensely, and pushed his door open. It screamed like an animal in pain, but he was able to strain it open enough that he could climb out, scratching his head as he examined the damage.

"How's it look?" Pogue asked, climbing out of his slightly quieter door.

"We're not going to get to California," Caleb said sadly.

The car was well and truly demolished. Wrapped entirely around the tree, the smoke had stopped, though it did make some pitiful 'ping'-ing noises as it settled to its twisted fate.

"Nope." Pogue agreed, holding out Caleb's brick of a cell phone. "Time to call Aunt Evie?"

Caleb winced, and nodded.

An hour later, the police were supervising as a local tow truck driver slowly worked the car off of the tree it had decided to cling to resolutely. Caleb and Pogue stood together, huddled for comfort and companionship against the others, while Mrs. Evelyn Danvers stood beside them, arms crossed, lips thinned into a firm line.

"Sorry," they'd both said, eyes down, feet scuffling in the dirt when she showed up. She'd simply shook her head, and gone to talk to the nice Officer Penner.

"We are in so much trouble," Caleb murmured.

"No, _I_ am in so much trouble," Pogue muttered back.

"How? I smucked thecar!"

"No, _I_ smucked the car."

Caleb blinked at his best friend, not sure that he understood what the other was talking about. After all, _he_ had been the one driving.

"I was driving." Pogue held up the keys he had apparently swiped from the driver's seat when they climbed out. "So don't worry, I convinced you to come with me on this stupid road trip, and I swiped your mom's keys, and you will still get your Mustang when you get your liscence."

Caleb's eyes widened. "But that's not true."

The blonde shrugged. "Aunt Evie expects it from me. Let her believe her golden boy wouldn't do something as stupid as this. Just promise me next time... you _will_ listen to me, and pull over before something like this happens?"

Caleb nodded frantically. He didn't _want_ to let the other take the fall for him, as much as it did give him a surge of relief, but he knew Pogue well, and knew perfectly that the other wouldn't let him _not_ allow it.

"Good." Pogue nodded, and walked over to Evelyn, holding out the keys.

She took them wordlessly, lips still tight.

"I'm really sorry," he said sincerely, looking up to meet her eyes.

She nodded, motioning to Caleb. He walked forward slowly, nervously, not sure what to expect.

Her to sweep them both into a tight hug was certainly _not_ it.

"Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again," she hissed. "And next time you chose to steal my car... _please_. Make sure you release the emergency break before driving off?"


End file.
